The present invention relates to a wireless communication device comprising at least a display means for presenting information, said display means having at least a first edge and a second edge, wherein information is arranged to be displayed between said first and second edges of the display means, and said first edge is situated above displayed information and said second edge is situated below displayed information when information is displayed on said display means in a position natural to a user of the wireless communication device, means for performing key functions having at least means for selecting a phone number, a housing comprising at least a first,end, a second end, and a front panel located between the first end and the second end, and a cover part arranged to be movable between a first limit position and a second limit position, in which first limit position said means for performing key functions are at least partly covered by the cover part, and in which second limit position at least part of said first means for performing key functions are not covered by the cover part.
Wireless communication devices, such as GSM mobile phones, have a user interface (UI) for operating the wireless communication device. The user interface comprises typically a keypad, a display means, an electroacoustic transducer such as an earpiece, and an acoustoelectric transducer such as a microphone. By means of the keypad, the user of the wireless communication device can e.g. select a telephone number, answer an incoming call, write text messages, modify the settings of the wireless communication device, etc. On the display means, it is possible to display various information to the user of the wireless communication device, e.g. to inform the telephone number of an incoming call, display a response to key presses made by the user, display information on the settings of the wireless communication device, display text messages, etc. The display means can also be used to display telephone directory information and other user-specific information possibly stored in a memory means, such as the SIM card (Subscriber Identity Module), of the wireless communication device.
Next, the terms to be used in this specification to describe the different parts in the housing of the wireless communication device are defined. The housing of the wireless communication device, or the housing of the handset in such wireless communication devices with a separate handset, is preferably an elongated hexahedron having in the longitudinal direction a cross-sectional form at least partly resembling a rectangle. Thus, according to the use situation, one wall of the housing can be called a front panel and the wall opposite to it a rear panel. Correspondingly, preferably the longitudinal walls can be called the first and second side walls and the ends the first and second end.
In the early stages of development of wireless communication devices, they were intended for use particularly in vehicles. In these so-called car phones, the user interface was either in a separate handset or it was located under the front panel of the housing of the car phone. The vehicles were equipped with a holder for placing the car phone interface in a detachable manner e.g. close to the dash board. Thus, the keypad could be used without removing the interface from the holder. The display means was placed so that it was above the keypad in a situation when the interface was in this holder. Thanks to this arrangement, when the user was for example entering a telephone number the hand did not cover the display means but it was visible to the user.
Also in wireless communication devices that were developed later, the display means and the keypad were placed in the above-described way. Upon using a wireless communication device., it is usually held in either of the hands so that the keypad is closer to the wrist of this hand than the display means. Moreover, the wireless communication device is usually held in a substantially upright position, wherein the display means is slightly higher than the keypad.
In display means used in wireless communication devices, there is preferably a substantially rectangular display field whose edges are called, in a way known as such, by the terms upper, lower, left and right edge. Thus, the display means is imagined in a position in which the characters and possible graphical figures to be displayed to the user are shown in a position and orientation natural to the user enabling them to be read and interpreted in a manner conventional to the user. In spite of this, in practical situations the display means may be in a position in which the upper edge of the display field is lower than the lower edge, but there is still no risk of confusing the terms defining said display field. It is obvious that said characters can vary in different countries and in different language versions of the wireless communication device. For example, Arabic numbers and the Roman character set are generally used in Europe, but the character set used e.g. in China and Japan may also be different. Moreover, the order of presenting information is not the same in all countries than in most of Europe, i.e. from left to right and from the top downwards. In some countries, the order of presenting information is from the right to the left and from the top downwards. Yet another order of presentation used is from the top downwards and from right to left. However, it is common to all these orders of presentation that the display field of the display means can be kept in the same position and that it is possible to use the above-mentioned edge terms defining the display field in an unequivocal way.
Expressed with the above-presented terms of edges of the display field, the user interface of the wireless communication device of prior art is formed in a way that the display means is close to the second end of the housing so that the upper edge of the display field is closer to this second end than the lower edge of the display field. Correspondingly, the keypad is close to the first end of the housing of the wireless communication device when the wireless communication device is in the use position. The appended FIG. 1 shows one such wireless communication device in a perspective view.
The wireless communication device can be used with two hands so that the wireless communication device is held in one hand and the fingers of the other hand can be used to press the keys. The wireless communication device can also be placed e.g. on a table, wherein one hand is used for supporting the wireless communication device in the lateral direction, if necessary, and fingers of the other hand are used to press the keys. However, there is often a need to use the wireless communication device when walking, in a car, or in another situation, in which it is not possible to operate with two hands and there is no table or corresponding support available. Thus, the aim is to operate the wireless communication device with one hand. In wireless communication devices of prior art, this is difficult, because the fingers of the hand holding the wireless communication device should also be used for operating the keypad for performing desired operations, such as selecting a telephone number. When the wireless communication device is held in a hand, the keypad is located at that end of the housing of the wireless communication device which is close to the wrist of the user, that is, expressed with the terms used in this specification, at the first end, and the fingers are closer to the second end of the housing. The fingers should thus be bent to reach the keypad. This is difficult and requires an unnecessary effort and concentration on the operation of pressing the keys. Moreover, for making it possible to press the keys with one hand, the wireless communication device must be supported with the fingers, relatively far from the wrist, wherein the grip by the fingers on the wireless communication device is unstable.
In the development of wireless communication devices, one aim is to reduce the size of the wireless communication device. Upon reduction of the size of the wireless communication device, the size of the keypad may also be reduced, wherein operation with one hand becomes more difficult. This also increases the risk of incorrect pressing of keys, because a finger may, upon pressing a key, hit the adjacent key and cause it to be pressed down. Furthermore, the keypad and the display means are close to each other, wherein when keys are pressed down, part of the display field may be covered by the hand, preventing the user from seeing all the information displayed on the display field. Some wireless communication devices according to prior art are provided with a hinged flap attached to the main body of the wireless communication device that is pivoted in such a way that it overlaps the main body when stowed but extends the overall length of the wireless communication device when in use. This hinged flap is positioned on top of at least part of the keypad when the wireless communication device is not in the normal use position. In a use situation the cover part is pivoted away from the main body of the wireless communication device wherein the keypad becomes available for use. In some wireless communication devices the hinged flap is equipped with a microphone which is thus placed close to the user's mouth in a call situation. However, turning this hinged flap into the open position and back to the closed position is very difficult, if one must use the wireless communication device with one hand.
Wireless communication devices in which the housing is provided with a cover part, which is slidable or turnable in another way are also known. The purpose of this cover part is to protect the keypad and to prevent erroneous key presses when the wireless communication device is not in the use position. In the use position, e.g. during a call or while writing text messages, the cover part is moved away from over the keypad e.g. by sliding, wherein the keypad can be used. In such a wireless communication device, the microphone is placed preferably in the cover part. Also in such a communication device, it may be difficult to slide the cover part when operating the device with one hand.
Finnish utility model FI-U2229 describes a wireless mobile phone, which has keypad and display means reversed, i.e. the display means is below the keypad when the phone is in its normal use position. The figure of the utility model illustrates that the keys which are used for selecting a phone number, e.g. numeric keys, are situated in the middle of the housing of the wireless mobile phone, while other keys, e.g. an answering key, hang up key, menu key and arrow: keys, are situated near the top edge of the housing of the wireless mobile phone. It is still not easy to use a wireless mobile phone implemented according to such a design, e.g. to select a number with one hand, although the keypad is somewhat nearer the top edge of the housing of the wireless mobile phone than in other wireless mobile phones of prior art. Furthermore, this kind of arrangement of the keys- is not optimal for wireless mobile phones having a movable cover part, which allows the user to press at least some of the control keys independent of the position of the cover part.
It is an aim of the present invention to present a wireless communication device, in which the drawbacks presented above are reduced to a significant extent. The wireless communication device according to the present invention is characterized in that said first edge of the display means is nearer the second end of the housing than said second edge of the display means, and that said means for selecting a phone number are placed in the housing of the wireless communication device so that they are nearer the second end of the housing than the first end of the housing.
With the present invention, significant advantages are achieved compared with wireless communication devices of prior art. The wireless communication device according to the invention can be made in a relatively small size, and the usability of the user interface can still be made to correspond to or exceed that of larger wireless communication devices. In the wireless communication device according to the invention, the location of the keypad and the display means is more advantageous in view of operating with one hand than in wireless communication devices of prior art. Thus, it is easier for the user e.g. to select a telephone number than in wireless communication devices of prior art, particularly in situations in which the use of the wireless communication device with two hands is difficult or is not possible. Furthermore, with the better location of the keyboard, the probability of incorrect key pressings is reduced.